Hexham Abbey

Hexham Abbey Project 

Project

Welcome to the Hexham Abbey Project

Hexham Abbey is one of the most inspiring buildings in the Northeast of England and is seen by many as the county church of Northumberland. It was founded in 674 AD by St Wilfrid and still contains its original Saxon crypt, which is one of the finest Saxon buildings to have survived intact anywhere in the world.

The Hexham Abbey Project aims to develop the Abbey and its adjoining former monastic buildings as a welcoming place which draws people in to participate, to learn and to be inspired, not only about the Abbey itself but also about the major role that this remarkable building has played in the development of the town of Hexham and the Christian heritage of the North East.

We propose to do this by taking advantage of a once in nearly five hundred year opportunity to acquire the adjoining Carnaby Building, a major part of the former monastic complex, which was lost to the Church at the time of the Reformation in 1537, and refurbish it to allow greatly improved access to the Abbey’s fascinating heritage and provide a much needed resource that will significantly enhance:

• the experience of the many visitors who come to the Abbey, the town of Hexham and the wider region; and
• the facilities available for use by the local community.

In the longer term, and only when funding permits, we would also like to re-unite the whole of the former Priory buildings under Abbey ownership and recreate the Cloister in a contemporary and iconic style, based on the footprint of the original medieval structure. In the current economic climate, however, we recognise that these must remain as long-term aspirations, and we are focusing our immediate efforts on improving the facilities available within the Abbey itself and on securing and developing the Carnaby Building.

These pages provide a brief overview of this ambitious project, which we estimate will cost more than £7m to develop in total. We have been greatly encouraged by the response to our initial feasibility studies and are now developing more detailed proposals for a pragmatically phased approach to delivery that will help us secure the support of potential funders.

We hope you will find this site of interest. If you have any comments or would like to become involved as the project develops, please [contact either Peter or Fiona, our project managers].